“Always the most revealing thing about the Church is her idea of God, just as her most significant message is what she says about Him or leaves unsaid, for her silence is often more eloquent than her speech. She can never escape the self-disclosure of her witness concerning God” (A.W. Tozer).
This is but another powerful statement of truth by Tozer. But can it be true? What would reveal a particular church’s idea of God? If we went to visit a local church, what would we look for? Would we look to see what kind of band or type of music they had? Would we be happy if the preacher preached on a certain subject or particular doctrine? Would it please us if the sermon was expository? Would we be happy if the preacher preached with enthusiasm? How must like Martin Lloyd-Jones are we when he said regarding listening to sermons: “I can forgive a man almost anything if he will give me a sense of God.” That is the most important issue.
A church reveals a lot about herself by what she does and the reasons why she does them. A church usually has a written creed or one that is just accepted. Sometimes the creed is that we have no creed so anything is accepted. But a church is going to do what it does for a reason. That reason is very telling about the church. It is also true that a church can accept a pious reason at one point and degenerate into other reasons later, or perhaps just tack on a good statement at the front to cover bad motives and reasons. The heart is really so deceptive.
What is hard these days is finding a church that will talk about God much at all. He is, well, just assumed if we are not ashamed of Him. We might have an orthodox creed, but where is God in the daily work of the church? The songs might be good as far as it goes, but where is God in all of that? The sermon may be expository but hardly even mention the name of God. The sermon may be with enthusiasm but is the enthusiasm real and is it about God? A sermon declares a lot about God even if it is what it refuses to say. A preacher that dances around the hard issues about God and sin makes a clear declaration about God. Sermons that refuse to deal with the heart make declarations about the outward life as if that is all that is required. Sermons that are orthodox in doctrine may simply never say anything negative or hard. All of those declare a lot about a church, primarily what it really thinks of God.
As Tozer says, “for her silence is often more eloquent than her speech. She can never escape the self-disclosure of her witness concerning God.” What a church does not say on a regular basis is indeed an eloquent statement. Could it be that some large and outwardly appearing orthodox “churches” are really so ashamed of the holiness, justice, and wrath of God that they will not talk about sin? In reality a refusal to deal with the hard issues is really to be ashamed of the character of God. Failure to preach hard doctrines and hard teachings is simply a desire for the approval of men more than a love for the glory of God. We really should go one step more and say that the reason men will not preach against sin and teach the hard teachings is simply because they want larger churches which is a desire for honor for self rather than a desire for the glory of God to be manifested. This is simply choosing self over God and is idolatry in holy things.
A church never escapes a loud statement about what it really believes. A church can hide behind an orthodox creed or doctrinal statement but if it does not really believe in God it will not teach the glories of God in truth. As John Gerstner said, “many people are going to hell past a Reformed pulpit.” John W. Montgomery wrote a book years ago entitled Damned through the Church. Holy Scripture tells us this: “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38). If the pastors and teachers of the churches will not proclaim the whole counsel of God to the people, then they are not innocent of the blood of all men (Acts 20:26ff). An elder or leader is only innocent of the blood of all men if he has preached or taught the whole counsel of God.
What we need in our day are men who will take God at His Word and preach the hard things as well. Until our preaching declares the glory of God in its fullness we will not see a return of the power of the Church. Until we are fearless in preaching against sin and dealing with the hearts of men in their sin we will not see men turn to God from the heart. We cannot preach the glories and wonders of God without the light from that glory shining on sinful hearts and revealing things that men hate. However, it is the contrite soul that God loves. Let us be careful to love
God and declare all of His glory and not water down things to attract carnal men. They may bring a lot of money and prestige to the church, but our love is to be for God and His glory.
God Loves... Himself 
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